The Penalty of Underestimation
by daydreamer-cloudwatcher
Summary: Analyzing, Obito never stopped analyzing for him and never once failed to pass on a piece of information. So how did they do it?


~.~.~.~

"Worried? I'm much more than worried about him." Tsunade said gravely as she looked out over _her_ city. "Have we gotten the body yet?" She asked her assistant, not turning to look, not wanting anyone to see the weakness held in her eyes at that precise moment. Though it was obvious it would be there, everyone was feeling it and it meant so much to her, it was just a matter of pride that she let no one see the broken mask.

"I'm afraid we've not been able to locate it yet." The black haired women replied, also trying to hide the tears in her voice.

They both knew, everyone knew, its location was anything but unknown. The problem was that no one could bring themselves to face up to the fact, that terrible, heart breaking fact.

~.~.~.~

The mission was simple, simple for _them_. It was just a B rank, maybe an A. A walk in the park for two shinobi like _them_. Sharingan no Kakashi and the most unpredictable ninja who ever lived? The man who had copied over a thousand Jutsu and the Sage Jinchuriki - like they'd even break a sweat. God how he wished that was sweat; wished it was transparent, harmless; odourless. It wasn't, god why wasn't it? Why had time stopped, why had the world turned silent and lost all light, why had it taken his light and left him in darkness? Why _him_? Another nightmare to add to the list of ones that haunted him.

~.~.~.~

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, I thought this was meant to be a B rank? An easy mission, a holiday you said." The bright blond grinned as he made the familiar cross hand sign and sent out a multitude of Kage Bunshin.

"It was _meant _to be." The silver haired ANBU replied, he had gone back to that division but was taking a normal mission this once, the Godaime Hokage had happily agreed for the two to take a joint mission.

"Then why are we facing a whole group of wannabe Akatsuki?"

"Apparently, the mission needed more investigation."

"You can say that again." The blond laughed as the hundred replicas of him leaped into battle.

They weren't worried, why would they be worried? They were Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto, like a group of wannabes could even land a scratch on them. They had taken down some of the original Akatsuki after all and, even if there were twice as many in this new formed group, they couldn't be any worse, right? And on the slight, almost impossible chance that they were as strong (impossible since they lacked any Sharingan let alone Uchiha Madara's and the Rinnegan) well, the two Shinobi had gotten a hell of a lot stronger since then. One had been chosen for next Hokage for crying out loud and the other, well the other was _almost_ as powerful. So they didn't even stop to consider that this fight might be dangerous, Naruto was never one to think about that, always just jumping straight in and knocking down any enemy that got in his way. And Kakashi, well he was a little more cautious, that always was his style of fighting, after all, but he still didn't for a moment think that this enemy stood a chance. It would be like a blade of grass standing up to a whirlwind.

~.~.~.~

It hadn't been quite so easy. More like a tree standing up to a storm. Because however strong the storm is, there are always trees left. The advantage was still on Naruto and Kakashi's side, because they weren't just _one _storm, they were a barrage of them. For every tree that survived the storm, they sent another storm after it. And with masses of Rasenshuriken flying at the enemy, it was no surprise that they were winning. Walk in the park – no, hard day's work at the gym - yes.

~.~.~.~

Two hours. The fight had been going on for two hours _and no one had died yet_. A morbid thought, yes, but frustrating nonetheless. They _just didn't die_, they were a lot worse of my still alive. It wasn't determination, they were lacking in that department, especially so when facing Uzumaki fricking Naruto, but death just didn't seem to want them. They just kept coming, unlike the other, the original, Akatsuki they didn't ever end. Their powers weren't ridiculously powerful and deadly like the originals and they weren't nearly as dangerous but for some reason every one of them had survived for two hours.

Only two hours, mind you, that's when the first fell. A hand through the heart and she crumpled to the ground as Naruto ripped it back out again. She twitched but never got up again. And the rest just carried on attacking, not even looking at her fallen body; just running right over it. That's when in sunk in and Kakashi realised, they were heartless and ruthless and just wanted blood. It would be much harder than they thought before; these people were nothing like the Akatsuki. The Akatsuki had wanted peace, had been fighting for something and this group? They just fought for the fight with nothing to win or lose. Formidable.

~.~.~.~

Six dead bodies and three people nearing the end of their ability to carry on; five still able to attack forcefully and them. Naruto so emotional, as he often is when fighting, his emotions were so strong that no one could beat them ever, no matter who they where and Kakashi analyzing all the while, fighting like the expert he was. They were both waiting, waiting for it to end; to go back and eat ramen and collapsed on the sofa together and sleep, both smiling. Waiting for it to end, but that was far off.

~.~.~.~

Analyzing, analyzing, always, always analyzing. Every move logged with the eye that was never his. Obito took in every move, attack, defence, dodge. His red eye noticed ever weakness, strength, hesitation and emotion that flickered across their faces. Obito told everything to Kakashi. Through the eye that they shared, the eye that was never Kakashi's but was no longer Obito's.

Naruto continued to throw himself at them recklessly, cutting down one after the other but they kept getting back up, he kept failing to deliver the final blow.

Kakashi severed ones head with Raikiri, the sounds of birds filled the air as red flew up and mixed with blue.

Analyzing, Obito _never_ _stopped_ analyzing for him and never _once_ failed to pass on a piece of information. _So how did they do it_? How did it happen?

~.~.~.~

Naruto barrelled through them again and again. Through both real and Kage Bunshin and just plain Bunshin, he pushed through everything but it kept getting back up. But every time they came back, they were just met with the ground again. He was impenetrable, unbeatable, they didn't stand a chance. His old sensei too, he never expected them to get close enough to land a hit, he flinched every time they did. Watching him getting hurt caused Naruto more pain than the assaults from his attackers, but it came with the job and he had to get used to it. Kakashi was going to get hurt, it was inevitable, he was a competent Shinobi, an ANBU again and one of the very best. No doubt he'd _almost_ die on many of his missions. But he was Hatake Kakashi, always putting his ass on the line for others but somehow always, always pulling through, even when it seemed next to impossible. Why, because he had things to come back for.

_So how did it happen_? How did Naruto see it all crystal clear and in slow motion and how did _Hatake Kakashi _miss it? Naruto watched the Raikiri cut off someone's head and he watched as it rolled to the ground. He also watched as one man came up behind, another from above and one more from bellow. He watched as Kakashi failed to see them until it was too late. Until he was turning to see a face inches from his and a knife coming _downdowndown._

The Naruto watched as the world slipped past him, rushing faster and faster, the speed ever growing as the colours merged until he hit silver. _Silver_ - his destination.

And the knife came down, flying through the air and through the flesh. Blood splattered and a moan echoed across the silence.

And Kakashi watched, watched as he was pushed aside and his student took the blow. The fatal blow.

_Oh god ohgodohgod, please oh please say it's a Kage Bunshin, say he didn't do it._

A hand through the heart and he crumpled as it was ripped back out. Oh the irony.

"Sorry…Kakashi-sensei…you might have to…finish this up…" The blond spluttered as blood spilled from his mouth. "Good…" But he never got to finish his sentence.

~.~.~.~

Everything was white, empty; there was nothing. Kakashi stood in the middle of it, running yet not moving. He couldn't see a thing but he could hear the slow pitter patter of rain. He ran towards the sound and froze at the site. Kneeling on the floor was Naruto with his blond hair dyed a different primary colour, a huge wound in his stomach and blood dripping from the wound and his mouth. Blood, the falling of blood not rain. Kakashi tried to scream, scream out for it not to be true, just one simple word _no_ or perhaps he tried to say _please no_. It didn't matter; no sound came from his hoarse through. He ran forwards and tried to catch the boy but as he came closer Naruto started to fade. _No, please no_ he tried to scream it again but still nothing, he fell a meter in front of Naruto and watched the blond look up, blue eyes shining and a smile on his face. Like that he evaporated and all that was left was the tear that fell from his eye as he went. Kakashi silently screamed as tears poured out and the empty white turned to suffocating, lonely black.

~.~.~.~

Kakashi sat bolt upright in bed, sweating and panting. He looked at the limp body lying next to him and sighed in relief. "Oh, silly me, just a dream, a bad, bad dream. It was just another nightmare. You're not going anywhere, are you?" He smiled as he stroked the blonde's colourless cheek. "You'll never ever leave me alone." He whispered as he kissed his students cold lips and wrapped his arms around his still torso.

~.~.~.~

**A/N: I should be writing my chapter fic since I have some deadlines coming up, I set them and I'm sticking to them god damn it. So to make this worth while please drop a review and tell me what you thought. I don't usually write depressing stuff but I got the end scene stuck in my head and had to write a fic for it. Do you get it? I have a feeling at least one person who reads this won't get it. Ask in a review if you don't and I'll explain, I'd explain here but I'm curious as to what people think. I think it's obvious, if you don't get it though it's obviously not obvious. Thanks, press the button and review now!**

**DdCw over and out.**


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